Storytime STEAM with 5 Little Pumpkins

Use a classic Halloween rhyme as your inspiration to get started with hands-on Preschool STEM activities.

Challenge your student’s thinking and problem-solving skills as they create their own unique solution to this Halloween STEAM activity.

STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.  STEAM activities help promote essential 21st-century skills, which is important in preparing our children for an unknown future.

STEAM Challenge: Can you build a structure to support five little pumpkins?

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Materials:

Five Little Pumpkins By Dan Yaccarino

Blocks

Craft Sticks

Orange Bottle Caps (We used orange caps from applesauce pouches).

STEAM Challenge:

Read the story The Five Little Pumpkins or watch the video. There are many versions of this classic Halloween rhyme.

Ask: How can we build a structure that can hold five pumpkins?

Imagine: Give students time to experiment and build with the materials.

Plan: Discuss and collaborate together. Students may wish to draw their design.

Create:  Build your structure.

Experiment: Test your structure. Can your structure hold all five pumpkins?

Improve:  Discuss how you can improve your building. Allow students time to redesign their structure. Can the structure hold more than five pumpkins? Can you make your structure higher?

Share: Draw a picture of your final structure. Share with parents or other classmates.

STEAM Integrations:

Science: What are the different parts of a pumpkin?

Technology: Research how farmers grow and harvest pumpkins.

Engineering: Can you build a structure to support a real pumpkin?

Art: Draw a picture of what happened to the five pumpkins after they rolled out of sight.

Math: Measure how high your structure is with snap cubes.

Looking for more Pumpkin STEAM? 

Grab our Pumpkin STEAM Experience Bundle

This bundle includes three STEAM lessons plus a bonus Storytime STEAM lesson.

Each lesson includes a list of materials, guiding questions to ask, and integrations on how to extend the learning experiences. The lessons inside this bundle will encourage your students to explore, design, and investigate!

What lessons you’ll get:

• Pumpkin Soup Exploration
• 5 Little Pumpkin Challenge
• Investigating Ramps with the Runaway Pumpkin

Plus, get these bonuses:

• STEAM Storytime lesson with Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Purchase this bundle here